Raise a glass in congratulations to happinez wine bar…5 years young!

The idea for opening a wine bar in Saint John came from a long time passion for wine, and in 2005 there was no wine bar in Saint John, nor, anywhere in Atlantic CanadaWe also had a small, awful little place in the basement of the Brodie building, which we owned at that time, and why not

The name came from a wonderful evening of dining and fun in a lovely little caf-restaurant in the old centre of Amsterdam, Holland, called Proust. In this venue we, Judith Mackin my former partner and still best friend, and I discovered a Dutch magazine named happinez, which focused on healthy lifestyles:), Judith came up with small tag linea little bar with lots of wine and there it was!

After 6 months of hard work and combining Judiths brilliant mind for design and marketing, and my 25 years of hospitality experience, we opened happinez.We had some amazing help from some wonderful friends and great local crafts persons and companies. Chris Lloyd and Jessica Johnston, who started working with us at happinez deserve lots of accolades for adding to a wonderful ambiance and providing great personal service, and the two local crafts men, brothers Kurtis and Al Fanjoy were instrumental in building happinez.

Ambiance and a warm social environment, friendly service, combined with a quality product and reasonable pricing have always been our top priorities, and we have also always tried to keep happinez freshIn the first year we launched our website www.happinezwinebar.com, in the second year we hired the brilliant young architects and friends Monica Adair and Stephen Kopp of the Acre collective, to design hapito, a unique patio. Again Kurtis and Al Fanjoy provided their skills to build it. Hapito has been recognized Nationally and Internationally in various Architects magazines.

In the third year the washroom area was upgraded and in the fourth year, we introduced the Nina Bench, a uniquely designed bench made out of wood, stainless steel and marbles. The original design came from Nina Farkach in 2001 and we discovered it in the famous Droog gallery in Amsterdam. Its name was the come a little closer bench and we adjusted it to the happinez interior and Kurtis and Al Fanjoy translated our dreams

In our 5th year we are looking at making some minor changes; a new wine indicator underneath our wine shelf behind the bar, a new entrance piece with a piece of wonderful pottery by local potter and friend Darren Emeneau, a new piece by the emerging artist Sarah Jones, a new and even more intimate colour for the ceiling, lights, and some new pillows

We are looking forward to another five fun years for happinez, our little wine bar!

Peter SmitHappinez wine bar

…and from all of us… Peter and the happinez crew, thank you for providing uptown Saint John with such a unique and charming space where one easily settles in to discover and cultivate the best of friends and tastes of wine. Uptown Saint John would not be the same without happinez!